Shoe for surgical cast

ABSTRACT

A shoe for a surgical plaster of Paris leg cast, comprising a sheet member having an outline generally corresponding to the profile of the underside of a foot and a pair of wells in the sheet member with the edge portion of the sheet member forming a peripheral flange. One well is located to cover the weight bearing area of ball portion of the foot and the other well is located to cover the weight bearing area of the heel portion of the foot. The bottom portion of the wells lie in a bearing plane parallel to the plane of the sheet member.

[ 1 Apr. 2, 1974 1 SHOE FOR SURGICAL CAST [76] lnventor: Francis Whyte, 2 Cascade Dr.,

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada [22] Filed: Apr. 4, 1972 [21] Appl. N0.: 240,369

[52] US. Cl. 128/83.5 [51] Int. Cl.. A61f 5/04 [58] Field of Search l28/83.5, 91, 83

[56] References Cited 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,634,723 4/1953 Wright l28/83.5

3,198,192 8/1965 OBrien 128/83.5 2,842,121 7/1958 Billings et a1. 128/91 R 3,307,536 3/1967 Blosser l28/83.5

3,613,674 10/1971 Volz 128/83.5

3,068,861 12/1962 l-loopes l28/83.5 3,332,416 7/1967 Brickman et al 128/91 R OTHER PUBLICATIONS Richards Fracture and Orthopedic Supplies Cata-' logue, 1966, page 40.

Primary Examiner-Richard A. Gaudet Assistant Examiner.l. Yasko [57] ABSTRACT A shoe for a surgical plaster of Paris leg cast, comprising a sheet member having an outline generally corresponding to the profile of the underside of a foot and a pair of wells in the sheet member with the edge portion of the sheet member forming a peripheral flange. One well is located to cover the weight bearing area of ball portion of the foot and the other well is located to cover the weight bearing area of the heel portion of the foot. The bottom portion of the wells lie in a bearing plane parallel to the plane of the sheet member.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures SHOE FOR SURGICAL CAST The present invention relates to a surgical plaster of Paris cast and more particularly to a shoe for aleg cast.

Surgical plaster casts which encase the foot at least partially incapacitate the wearer in several ways. Most importantly, the weight transferred through the cast when the wearer walks is often distributed in a manner detrimental to the bone or ligament being healed. Less important but still inconvenient is the need to avoid wetting the cast, which would damage or destroy it.

' Also, it is not possible to drive an automobile vehicle It is an object of the present invention to provide a shoe for a leg cast which gives improved distribution of bearing weight on the injured leg.

It is another object of the invention to provide a shoe for a plaster leg cast which facilitates driving an automobile.

A furtherobject of the invention is to provide a shoe for a plaster leg cast which gives improved protection against wetting.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe for a plaster leg cast which reduces the possibility of breakage of the cast.

Example embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the shoe of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in cross-section taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is aside view of aleg cast with the shoe of FIG. 1 attached to it; and

FIG. 5 is an alternate embodiment of the shoe of FIG. I.

The example embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings consists of a shoe comprising a sheet member 12 having an outline corresponding generally to the profile ofa foot viewed from the underside, preferably from ball to heel. Two wells of similar depth are formed in sheet member 12, one well 14 in the forward portion of the sheet member and substantially covering the weight bearing area of the ball of the foot, and one well 16 in the rearward area portion of the sheet member and substantially covering the weight bearing area of the heel of the foot. The edge portion of sheet member 12 between wells 14 and 16 and the edge of the sheet member forms a peripheral flange 18. Between wells 14 and 16 sheet member 12 forms a bridge 22 which is contoured to form a raised portion 24 in the area of the instep of the foot. The bottom portion 26 of well 14 is preferably flattened to provide a weight bearing area and the bottom portion 28 of well 16 is rounded. Sheet member 12 is substantially rigid and of sufficient thickness to carry the weight to be borne through the cast, but the sheet member preferably also has some flexibility, a suitable material for the purpose being ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene). Sheet member 12 may be covered with a coating of rubber or similar material tod eaden noise and increase friction in use.

In use, shoe 10 is placed against the underside of a plaster leg cast 30 as seen in FIG. 4 of the drawings. Three or four turns 32 of wet plaster of Paris bandage. are then wound around cast 30 and flange 18 of the shoe adjacent well 14, three or four turns 34 are wound around the cast and bridge 22, and three or four turns 36 are wound around the cast and flange l8 adjacent well 16. When turns 32, 34 and 36 of the plaster of Paris bandage set, shoe 10 is held securely on cast 30. When the shoe is used for walking the bearing load will be transmitted through flange 18 and bridge 22 of member 12 and not through the ball and heel of the foot, thus transmitting the pressure through the cast. Pressure may be transmitted selectively through areas of the ball and heel of the foot by pre packing corresponding regions of wells 14 and 16 with wet plaster of Pariswadding to the level of the upper surface of sheet member 12 and allowing the wadding to harden before securing shoe 10 to cast 30, thus providing an additionalbearing surface. As seen in FIG. 5 of the drawings, well 14 may be suitably sectioned by one or more fixed vertical divider walls 38 for this purpose and well 16 may be sectioned in the same manner, the upper edge 48 of the divider being below the plane of the upper surface of flange 18.

The bandage used to hold shoe 10 on cast 30 is preferably nylon net impregnated with plaster of Paris, which provides a stronger binding, when set, than other types of cloth normally used for plaster casts.

I claim:

l. A shoe for a surgical plaster of Paris leg cast, comprising:

a thermoplastic sheet member of substantially rigid,

weight supporting material having an outline substantially similar to the profile of the underside of a foot; pair of wells of similar depth formed in the sheet member, one well being located in forward portion of the sheet member and of an area substantially covering the weight bearing area of the ball portion of the foot, the other well being located in the rearward portionof the sheet member and of an area substantially covering the weight bearing area of the heel portion of the foot, the edge portion of the sheet material forming a peripheral flange the front portion of which is extended and adapted to underlie and support the toes of the foot and the rear portion of which is extended and adapted to underlie and support the heel of the foot, that portion of the sheet member forming a bridge between the wells being contoured to provide a raised instep portion, at least one of the wells including a fixed vertical divider wall therein.

2. A shoe as claimed in claim 1 in which the material of the sheet member is acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.

3. A shoe as claimed in claim 1 in which the sheet member is coated with rubber.

4. A shoe as claimed in claim 1 in which at least the forward well is flattened in its bottom portion.

5. A surgical plaster of Paris leg cast having a shoe fixed thereon, the shoe comprising a thermoplastic sheet member of substantially rigid, weight supporting material having an outline substantially similar to the profile of the underside of a foot, 21 pair of wells of similar depth formed in the sheet member, one well being located in forward portion of the sheet member and of an area substantially covering the weight bearing area of the ball portion of the foot, the other Well being located in the rearward portion of the sheet member and of an area substantially covering the weight bearing area of the heel portion of the foot, the edge portion of the sheet material forming a peripheral flange the front portion of which is extended and adapted to underlie and support the toes of the foot and the rear portion of which is extended and adapted to underlie and support the heel of the foot, that portion of the sheet member forming a bridge between the wells being contoured to provide a raised instep portion, at least one of the wells including a fixed vertical divider wall therein, the shoe being held to the cast by a plurality of turns of plaste of Paris bandage encircling the foot portion of the leg cast and the shoe at least between said wells.

6. A cast as claimed in claim 5 in which said bandage is nylon net material impregnated with set plaster of Paris. 

1. A shoe for a surgical plaster of Paris leg cast, comprising: a thermoplastic sheet member of substantially rigid, weight supporting material having an outline substantially similar to the profile of the underside of a foot; a pair of wells of similar depth formed in the sheet member, one well being located in forward portion of the sheet member and of an area substantially covering the weight bearing area of the ball portion of the foot, the other well being located in the rearward portion of the sheet member and of an area substantially covering the weight bearing area of the heel portion of the foot, the edge portion of the sheet material forming a peripheral flange the front portion of which is extended and adapted to underlie and support the toes of the foot and the rear portion of which is extended and adapted to underlie and support the heel of the foot, that portion of the sheet member forming a bridge between the wells being contoured to provide a raised instep portion, at least one of the wells including a fixed vertical divider wall therein.
 2. A shoe as claimed in claim 1 in which the material of the sheet member is acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.
 3. A shoe as claimed in claim 1 in which the sheet member is coated with rubber.
 4. A shoe as claimed in claim 1 in which at least the forward well is flattened in its bottom portion.
 5. A surgical plaster of Paris leg cast having a shoe fixed thereon, the shoe comprising a thermoplastic sheet member of substantially rigid, weight supporting material having an outline substantially similar to the profile of the underside of a foot, a pair of wells of similar depth formed in the sheet member, one well being located in forward portion of the sheet member and of an area substantially covering the weight bearing area of the ball portion of the foot, the other well being located in the rearward portion of the sheet member and of an area substantially covering the weight bearing area of the heel portion of the foot, the edge portion of the sheet material forming a peripheral flange the front portion of which is extended and adapted to underlie and support the toes of the foot and the rear portion of which is extended and adapted to underlie and support the heel of the foot, that portion of the sheet member forming a bridge between the wells being contoured to provide a raised instep portion, at least one of the wells including a fixed vertical divider wall therein, the shoe being held to the cast by a plurality of turns of plaste of Paris bandage encircling the foot portion of the leg cast and the shoe at least between said wells.
 6. A cast as claimed in claim 5 in which said bandage is nylon net material impregnated with set plaster of Paris. 